When you're all alone
by Boneslove-2991
Summary: When Temperance dies, the rest of the squints are forced into a continuation of the previous case. Amanda is dealing with a new life and new people in her life, without her old friends.
1. Chapter 1

"This morning a call was brought in when a truck driver ran a vehicle off the 66 into the Potomac River. Police have managed to get the car out of the river but we are grieved to announce this. Dr. Temperance Brennan, a renowned forensic anthropologist and best selling author has been declared dead. A full report will be on at 8 this evening."

Booth, Angela, Hodgins, Cam, and Zach all were sitting in Brennan's office watching the report. All were horrified at the news. They couldn't find Brennan that morning and all were trying to find her. However, a call from Cullen had them watching the news until now.

Angela was sobbing, and everyone else had tears in their eyes. No one could believe that she was gone. Forever.

* * *

Cullen and Amanda Chase watched the news. Both sighed in relief. Temperance was dead and Amanda now had barely anything to worry about. If someone was to place a photo of Temperance next to Amanda, you might be able to see similarities, but unless you studied them you wouldn't know they were the same person. Amanda was blonde and wore more make-up than Temperance did.

"Here's the file and the keys. I wish you luck."

"You'll keep in touch, I assume?"

He nodded, "Remember, you are not to talk to anyone about what you know except for me, and not to talk to any of your friends at the Jeffersonian."

Amanda bit her lip, "God, I hope this will be over soon."

"Me too, Dr. Brennan. Me too." With a final sigh before she left, he said, "You know this is necessary. Know that all of us are working on this as quickly as possible."

Amanda nodded. This was bigger than many of the other cases she had worked. An entire mob was searching for her and she had almost died three times in the past 24 hours. This was needed and she prayed it would work.


	2. Chapter 2

**I apologize for not updating. Hopefully I should be updating more frequently now. And for those that have wondered, Brennan is in witness protection, and is Amanda. **

Two hours of driving later, Amanda found herself in front of her house in Barton, Maryland. The town seemed quiet and peaceful, but then again, it was late evening. Knowing her life, anything was possible, even in such a small town as Barton. The neighbor's door opened and a young woman, maybe a few years younger than Amanda, stepped out.

"You the new neighbor?" the woman asked.

Amanda nodded and the woman smiled, "Welcome to Barton. If you'd like, tomorrow, I'll help you move in, and maybe show you around town and introduce you to some of the other gals here."

She was about to politely refuse, but then she thought about it. If she knew more people here, she might be able to find out easier if a member of the mob lived here or moved here, instead of possibly going blindly through town without knowing who anyone was or who she could trust. So instead she said, "I'd like that; thanks! I'm Amanda."

"Stephanie." She turned to go back inside, but stopped for a second and threw Amanda a warning, "Tomorrow maybe Saturday but some of the kids in this town don't watch the cartoons and tend to be a little rowdy. Thought, I'd give you a fair warning."

Both women laughed, and Amanda thanked her again before walking inside her new house. It was mostly empty minus a few pieces of furniture that Cullen had gotten dropped off earlier. She opened the window in her new room and plopped down on her new bed, worn out from the day's activities. With the late summer, evening breeze, Amanda found herself asleep within minutes.

* * *

Cullen had found Booth in his office the next morning. He noted mentally that the agent looked like hell, but the man believed his partner was dead. It was understandable. His heart panged as he knew that if Booth and the rest of the squints found out that Temperance Brennan was actually alive, they would be as good as dead as well.

"Booth, I got you a case."

The agent looked up and asked tiredly, "What is it?"

"It's you're partner's case." The younger agent looked shocked but quickly turned to confusion. Cullen continued, knowing what Booth would say, "I know this is too close, but you and your team have the best success rate and this is bigger than what you thought it was."

"What do you mean, Sir?"

"In your previous case, the victim was killed by a member of a mob, but you didn't know he was a member. Dr. Brennan had found out and gathered some very important information on the leader and the inner workings. I managed to get most of the information, but as she was leaving to get me the rest of the information, she was pushed off the bridge by another member of the mob. You and you're team are going to find out who these leaders are and get rid of them, before they kill anyone else."

Booth's anger began to rise as he heard why Brennan died. She died because she knew too much. Something made his way to the front of Booth's mind. How did the mob know she knew too much? It should be impossible. Unless…

"Is there spies for the mob working here?" he asked.

Cullen nodded, "I believe so and your partner did too, which is why I'm entrusting you with this case. No one but your squints and I are to know anything about this case. To the rest of the world you aren't even on this case."

"I understand, sir."

"Good. In about an hour, I'll personally deliver all the files of information to the Jeffersonian. We can't let it go into the wrong hands."

At Booth's final nod, Cullen left him to go over what just happened. He hoped Cullen knew that once he found the bastard behind murdering his partner, he most likely would not be able to hold back from either killing him or coming close. Booth wasn't going to force the squints to work this case with him, but knowing them, they would all jump at the chance to catch the leader of the mob, and hell, every single member.

* * *

"I'm in!"

"Me too!"

"I'll help, if you let me help beat the bastards to a pulp!"

Everyone had immediately volunteered to help, which was no big surprise to either Booth, or Cullen. Cullen was shocked by one thing. They didn't know there wasn't a body. All they had was a car and a bunch of files. Cullen knew that these squints were good with bodies and they would easily be able to tell if the body was Dr. Brennan's or not so he made Brennan's car able to be controlled by a remote and made the windshield come off shortly after hitting the water. He made the press believe Dr. Brennan had managed to get out of the car but couldn't make it back up to the surface and that her 'body' still hadn't been found. The fact that Dr. Brennan had drowned was in the full report the night before, so if they didn't know that, they didn't watch it, and that was what shocked him.

"You didn't watch the report last night?" he asked.

Hodgins responded, "Dude, we just found out that our close friend had died. That was the only thing that registered in our minds yesterday. None of us even thought about watching it."

'I guess that does make sense,' Cullen thought to himself. "We will give you all you need, but there is no body yet so you will have to do the best you can."


	3. Chapter 3

Amanda tried to hit the snooze button on her alarm. It sounded like it was on the radio, but instead of music, it was static. It wasn't until several minutes later she realized it wasn't her alarm clock at all and it was actually the kids outside. She groaned as she remembered she had left the window open the night previously. Slowly she got out of bed, got dressed and stood on the porch, leaning on the railing.

The kids were all playing kickball in the field right across the street from her. Amanda smiled as one of them kicked the ball into the woods and some of the others started complaining. She heard someone walk up onto her porch so she turned and saw Stephanie.

"You sleep okay?"

"Yeah," she replied as she tried to stifle a yawn.

Stephanie chuckled, "Kids woke you up, huh?" When Amanda nodded, she continued, "I told my kids tell the others to keep it down for the new neighbor, but apparently they didn't get the memo."

They laughed and Amanda quickly said, "It's alright. I normally get up earlier than this..."

"Hey," she interrupted gently. "You just moved here and you're getting settled in. You deserve to at least sleep in on your first day here. It's the weekend; it's not like you have to go to work or something." Then she gasped, "You don't have to go to work do you?"

Amanda laughed, "I don't start work for a few weeks."

Stephanie sighed in relief, "Good." Then she immediately went into gossip mode, "So, you don't a boyfriend do you?"

"No," Amanda glanced at her friend confused. "Why?"

"I need to get you a boyfriend then."

Stephanie reminded Amanda of Angela. If this girl was anything like her friend back at the Jeffersonian, she was going to be a handful about that subject.

* * *

Booth had spent all night long going over all the files they had on the mob. There were four levels: leaders, trainers, initiates, and associates. All but the associates had tattoos on the upper arms, the higher up in the mob you were, the more intricate the designs were. Associates weren't official members of the mob, but they were well trusted and respected. It took a lot of work to become that status though, often years.

There were a few names scattered around in the papers, but many of those people had been picked up and questioned for information already. He closed the last file and got up to see Cullen. There had to be at least one person on their side who could help them out.

* * *

Cullen was on the phone with Amanda when Booth came in. He covered the mouthpiece and asked, "What is it, Booth?"

"Sir, there has to be someone who I can get more information from."

He sighed and uncovered the phone, "Amanda, Agent Booth needs to see you sometime soon."

"Okay, I can see him anytime this week."

"Oh speaking of this week," another voice said faintly, "there's the Party in the Park celebration tomorrow. You have to be there!"

"So wait, tomorrow I'm not free then?" Amanda asked the other person.

"You can be, just tell whoever it is that you're seeing to be here before 11 or he'll have some serious fun trying to find you."

"Did you hear that?" she asked Cullen.

"Yeah," he replied. Then he turned to Booth, "You feel like getting up tomorrow early for a two hour drive?"

He nodded and Cullen told Amanda, "He'll be there. Again, call me if you need anything." He then wordlessly handed Booth the information he needed.


	4. Chapter 4

Booth was running so late. He had slept in after falling asleep around half past five, and not to mention Rebecca had dropped Parker off five minutes previously. So not only did he have to get ready, he had to get his son ready as well. Two and a half hours later, Booth and Parker found themselves on Amanda Chase's front porch at nearly noon. With the festivities going on throughout the town, he wasn't sure she was home, but the voices coming from the open window alerted him to their presence.

"Stephanie! I told you not to over do it, and look what you did! You over did it," a female voice cried teasingly.

"Hun, I think you look gorgeous!" another girl giggled. "Besides, I never over do it when it comes to make-up."

"You did! It's just a little town celebration."

"Just a little town celebration? I told you that you need a boyfriend, and we will get you one by the end of the day."

Booth decided to knock at that moment. Stephanie had opened the door and grinned. "Hey, Amanda. I think that guy from yesterday is here."

Amanda came over to the door as Parker tugged on Booth's sleeve. "Daddy, can I go play with the other kids?"

Booth glanced at the two women in front of him. Stephanie nodded, "It's totally safe around here. Your son will be fine."

"Stephanie, why don't you join in with the festivities and I'll join you later?"

She smiled, "Fine, but you better be back in an hour! You have a ton of people to meet!"

As she hurried off, Booth and Amanda went inside, and Amanda made sure that all the doors and windows were shut before they sat down. "Did you just move here?" Booth asked.

Amanda knew she had to tell as much truth as possible, but she had to keep the information that she was Brennan away from him, "Yeah, these guys are good and it's only a matter of time before something slips and you have to move again"

He looked shocked for a minute, but didn't question her, so she continued, "I was an associate for the past three weeks. An FBI agent who has been undercover there for the past ten years, got me and another agent in. Unfortunately, his cover was blown when someone from his past recognized him and called him by his real name, when he was around a few other members, myself included. He and the other man was shot seconds afterward. I gave the FBI the names and they were picked up shortly afterwards."

"How were you discovered?"

Now came the lies. "I was talking to Dr. Brennan, I gave her the information she needed to help solve your case, and told her she wasn't safe. However, she died before she could get back to the Jeffersonian. One of members over heard me giving away information and told the boss. I managed to disappear before he could come back and kill me."

Truthfully, she hadn't been discovered. It was all because the spies in the FBI knew she was working the case.

Booth began to grow angry. "You mean, thanks to you, my partner is dead?"

At that moment, she was so close to telling him that she really was alive. However, she really didn't want her friends in anymore danger than they were already in, so she kept her mouth shut about that.

"Look, Agent Booth. I'm sorry your partner is dead, but I swear I called her once I heard that they were following her. She was a threat to them with you and the rest of your team getting that body." She stood up and walked over to the window. She saw Parker running around the bases as the ball he had kicked rolled past all of the other kids. "That body was the body of a schoolteacher. He and 52 other kids and parents were all massacred in a town in the middle of nowhere in Michigan. The remaining bodies are scattered across the U.S.. It'll be near impossible to find them all."

Amanda turned around to see Booth with his face in his hands. Immediately, she sat down next to him and placed her hand on his arm. He looked up at her, his face slightly tear streaked.

"You kind of remind me of her."

She blushed slightly and told him, "Dr. Brennan told me that she never passed up a case, and she never gave up on any she got. She was fully confident that if something happened to her during this case, that you and the rest of the team would finish it. I am completely willing to help as much as I can."

Booth gave her a small smile, "Really?"

"Absolutely," she smiled back. "She also said you were the best friend she's ever had and that she couldn't thank you enough for being with her through all she has been these past couple years."

Impulsively, he hugged her and she hugged him back. Who knows when she'd be able to hug him again? If she ever could go back to the life of Temperance Brennan, he'd probably never speak to her again. The sound of someone banging on the door made them break apart.

"Amanda! Get your butt out here right this second or you're going to miss the parade!" came Stephanie's voice.

Booth got up, and turned to her, "Thank you."

She gave him a small smile, and then picked up a file from the coffee table, "Inside this file is Brennan's killer: Marcus Banks. I'm not surprised the other undercover agent found out it was him. This guy loves to brag about everything."

"Come on, Amanda! Hurry up!"

"Hold your horses. I'm coming!" Thank god for those many hours of studying sayings and other pop culture references the night before.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hi everyone. I wanted to thank you guys for your reviews and for sticking with me throughout my irregular updates! I know that on the show Booth would have totally recognized Brennan by now, but it is imperative that I make him not recognize her for a while longer. Let's just say that when he does find out, it most definitely won't be pretty.**

"Booth, stay," Amanda told him sternly. It was dark and the festivities were finally over. Everyone was exhausted. Parker had already crashed on her couch, and Booth was too exhausted to have to think about the drive back to D.C.

"I don't want to impose…" his voice drifted off and Amanda chuckled at the irony of it.

She took his shoulders, and pushed him toward her room. "You and Parker can sleep here. You most definitely won't be imposing."

"Where will you sleep?"

"On the couch." He opened his mouth to object but Amanda stopped him. "I won't be doing much more than sitting on my butt most of the day for the next couple weeks. You however work most of the time and need to sleep somewhere comfortable, and I'll tell you this. Those couches are not comfortable."

"It's the gentleman thing to do," he moved to go back to the couch.

She had to bite her tongue to not spout something about alpha male tendencies, and grabbed a hold of his arms and sat him down on her bed.

"I'll go over to Stephanie's and get you to sleep in. Don't you dare move!"

A few minutes later, she was back and had Parker in her arms along with a pair of clothes for Booth. She handed him both and opened up the nightstand drawer, pulling out her gun.

"Don't worry; it's just for emergencies," she whispered when he gave her a strange look.

He sighed and she left the room quietly, "Good night."

* * *

All throughout the night, she couldn't sleep. Knowing her partner, who thought she was dead, was just in the next room asleep could contribute to that. However, the main reason was because something felt wrong. Maybe she was just paranoid. She had checked on Booth and Parker about 50 times in the past hour, and who knows how many more times over the past five hours. She had walked around outside a few times too. Nothing was out of the ordinary. It was absolutely silent, except for the crickets. But that was normal.

Suddenly, her phone rang the very second she walked back inside. She checked the caller I.D and saw it was Derek, the only undercover agent left within the mob.

"Derek? What's wrong?"

"Amanda, where are you?"

"In Barton, where I'm supposed to be. And I'll ask again, what's wrong?"

"You need to get out of there now! I called Cullen, and you need to meet him in his office."

"Shit!" she growled. "I'm on my way."

She grabbed Booth's keys and hurried back to her room where Booth and Parker will still fast asleep. Immediately, she shook his shoulder.

"Booth, we have to get out of here now!"

He woke with a start and asked the same question she had asked Derek a minute ago.

She hurried over to the window, and panic began to overwelm her when she saw a truck pull up to a house on the neighboring block and 5 men hopped out.

"Don't ask questions, and get moving if you want to live!"

He grabbed Parker and together the three rushed outside to the SUV. Amanda climbed in the driver's seat and Booth got in the passenger seat with Parker silently. She sped onto the field for a faster and safer way to get onto the road without getting spotted. It was an half hour before Booth said a single word.

"Okay, can you tell me now what's going on?"

She glanced at him and his terrified son and she sighed. "It was a few members of the mob."

"A few?" he sent her a disbelieving gaze.

"Five. I think that's what worries me the most. I haven't even been in Barton for three days and yet they've already found me. I'll probably be stuck in a safe house for the next couple days to find out if they are still looking for me. If they are, I'll probably need a new identity."

"How many identities have you had?"

She gave him a half smile. "Not only are you not entitled to know that information, but you don't want to know."

"Are me and Parker in danger?"

"Parker, maybe not so much, but you are still working the case of that school teacher and your partner's case. Good chance they are looking for you and the rest of the team still. Derek will be able to update us on the situation when we get to D.C."

"Someone wants to hurt Daddy?" Parker whispered.

"No one will hurt your Daddy as long as I have anything to do with it!" Amanda replied softly.

* * *

"What do you mean Agent Booth had stayed the night!" Cullen thundered. Thankfully the building was empty, minus Cullen, Derek, Booth, Parker, and Amanda. "He could have been killed tonight!"

"If I hadn't let him stay the night he probably would be on the side of the road dead from falling asleep at the wheel. He barely lasted a minute when he came back inside my house to get his keys."

"It's against protocal for you to even be talking with Booth!"

"You're the one who set up the arrangement for him and I to talk to help solve this case!"

"Do you want people to know your real identity?"

"No one knows my identity except for you and Derek! I'm trying to help solve this case and I would prefer to not lose as many people as possible by stupid accidents. I didn't have a single clue as to how the mob knew where to start seaching for me! I just listened to Derek when he told me to get out of there. I knew with a possible hit on Booth and the team that I had to get him out of there, and I did! All of us are safe and sound."

While the anger had begun to difuse, the tension certainly did not. Derek was quick to put down a file on Cullen's desk.

"I got some new information besides for the fact that we definitely know they don't believe Temperance Brennan is dead. They have separated most of the people into teams consisting of 25 to 50 people, depending on who they think will cause more problems, if it's believed their dead, or just normal targets in general. Almost two-hundred people are currently searching for Dr. Brennan right now. Booth has 30, and the rest of the team has about 25 individually."

"You know, Booth," Amanda spun around. "If I had told you my real identity, your number would be tripled, easily."

"She's right," Derek mentioned. "The boss is going crazy trying to find you. He knows that the information you know could rip them apart."

"Wow, what did Bones and Amanda know?" Booth asked in complete shock.

"Let's just say," Amanda started, "that the information I told you doesn't even cover the basics." She then turned to Cullen and Derek. "I'm going to need those files if I'm going to do this."

"What are you doing?" Booth asked her?

"I'm going to bring your killers in before they can kill you." She stood up to leave once the files were in her hands, but Cullen stopped her for a second.

"Two agents are going to help you."

Amanda nodded in understanding and turned to Booth, "Derek will help you catch as many of these bastards as possible. This is certainly one hell of a case!"


	6. Chapter 6

Months have past since the death of Temperance Brennan. All of the members of the squint squad were still all alive and well, mostly thanks to Amanda's work. After learning about all of the people that were after them, the squints had been extremely careful. Mostly they had stayed at the lab more. Even Angela had started staying until late at night, or even staying the night.

No one could say Amanda wasn't doing the job she decided to start doing. She had managed to eliminate those that targeted Angela, Cam and Zach, and most on Hodgins and Booth. While she brought the ones on her that she searched for in, she really didn't bother searching for the ones looking for her. With her blonde hair, not even Booth could recognize her, so how could the mob members? The main task was to keep her friends safe. It would still be difficult to find her even if they did know who she was. She was on a plane every single night to the next city.

After 5 months of traveling the country, she finally went back to D.C. to inform Cullen, Booth, and Derek on her progress. However, after her shower once she got home, she realized she'd have to dye her hair again. The blonde had washed out, so it was mostly her old brown again. It was depressing seeing her old hair, but yet, not being able to go to her old life yet.

While the night was still young, she decided it was best to get the trip to the store over with. Besides, she needed something to eat other than take out and there was nothing left in the house that wasn't stale. She pulled into the closest Wal-Mart and headed into the food section. As she neared the end of the row, a group of rowdy guys started walking over, pushing each other. Amanda only noticed one thing about them that made her back away in horror when she realized her gun was left at home. They had tattoos going up their arms, and when one of the guys jacket lifted up slightly she could see the outline of a gun through the thin shirt. They were members of the mob, and most likely were targeting her.

She just barely managed to over hear one of them ask, "Doesn't she look like her?" when her fight or flight responses immediately favored the flight response.

However, she incidentally spun around right into the one and only: Seeley Booth.

"Temperance?" he gasped in recognition, unaware of the danger that was right behind her.

She turned around and saw all six of the tattooed men aiming their guns at her. It was then that Booth noticed them and reached for his gun and tried to push her out of the way, however, it was too late. Their shots rang through the air and all hit their mark. Seemingly in slow motion, she fell backward from the force of the bullets. He caught her before she hit the floor and tried to shoot the other men, but they were already almost out of the store. Booth focused once again on Temperance.

Her shirt was quickly becoming soaked in blood. He felt for a pulse and sighed slightly in relief when he felt it, but it was weak. She was losing too much blood, too fast. He stripped off his own shirt to attempt to stop the flowing blood. Someone came up beside him with a stack of towels and helped him. Minutes later, the paramedics finally arrived.

He managed to get a ride with her to the hospital but he had to stay put in the waiting room while they tried to save they partner he had thought was at the bottom of the Potomac River. As he waited in the waiting room, his mind had finally gotten over the shock, and now filling with anger. This was much, much different than the time he had faked his death. He had at least tried to let her know he was alive, but she had been 'dead' for over five months now, and there hadn't been one little hint that she was alive. His partner had drowned, after managing to get through the windshield of her car. No body was ever found.

His mind stopped. No body was ever found. Teams had searched that river for days and not even a strand of her hair was found. That now seemed hard to believe. How could he have fallen for that story?

Booth sat down to pray. He prayed that she would make it through this, because he seriously needed answers and he wanted them from her.

**Didn't I mention that it wasn't going to be pretty when he found out? Next chapter shall be worse.**


	7. Chapter 7

Not even fifteen minutes later, Cullen burst into the hospital and saw Booth sitting in the waiting room.

"Where is she?"

"Surgery," was all Booth was willing to say.

Cullen went over towards the door and spoke to one of the doctors. When he finished he sat down next to Booth.

"You want answers." It wasn't a question.

"Wouldn't you?"

"Of course; I would have wanted the facts right from the start."

"I was stupid enough to believe the information you gave me in the first place."

"I was surprised you bought it, and bought it for this long."

They paused for a second before Cullen mentioned carefully, "She was protecting you, you know."

"I can understand that, but still, I could have kept it a secret that she was alive. I've been tortured for information before and didn't break."

Cullen sighed, "I'm aware of that Booth, but this is a completely different situations. The mob has spies stationed just about everywhere. They would know for certain she was alive if you knew. She and I have never questioned your ability to keep a secret. We were a hundred percent positive that they would know and we decided not to risk putting you and the rest of your team's lives in more danger. They needed to make sure she was dead, which is why they continued searching for her after we had announced her death on the news."

Booth leaned back in his chair. He didn't think this whole situation that way. He didn't have to agree with it, but what Cullen said did somewhat make sense to him.

"What's going to happen now?" he asked.

Cullen shrugged, "Hope she'll be okay and then go from there."

Just then the door opened and one of the doctors came into the waiting room, blood covering much of the clothes and gloves he was wearing.

"Are you two here for the woman that was shot?"

Both stood up and nodded.

"She's just one miracle after another, that woman," the doctor smiled. "The bullets had missed all of her major organs and the surgery went well. She'll be absolutely fine!"

"Great," Cullen sighed, "Do you know when she will wake up?"

"Any time now. Normally, we would only let family members see her at this point, but seeing as you're both from the FBI, you can see her now."

"Thank you, Doctor," Booth finally spoke up.

A minute later, they found themselves in chairs on different sides of her bed. She was extremely pale, and the wires connecting to her along with the bandages wrapped around her chest and midsection freaked Booth out. They waited in silence for her to wake up.

It only took three minutes for her to do so.

Upon opening her eyes, she immediately sat up, terrified, only to cry out at the searing pain.

"Bones! Lay back down," Booth ordered, jumping up to help her.

"Booth?" she looked questionably at him. "What are you doing here?"

"Don't you remember?"

The memories came flooding back, and she closed her eyes. She remembered the shopping at Wal-mart, running into the mob, running into Booth, and the shooting. She also remembered the reason for coming back to D.C.

She opened her eyes again, and turned toward Cullen.

"I came back to give you an update, but I guess its useless now."

He seemed to understand exactly what she was talking about, but Booth was clearly confused. "Okay, three things. What's going on? What's useless? And I want the full story on what's been going on the past 6 months."

Brennan looked at Cullen, and when he nodded, she turned to Booth.

"6 months ago when we had gotten the case of the murdered schoolteacher, I gave the information we had to Cullen, and he recognized it as the mob. He had me and another agent go undercover."

"Whoa, wait," Booth interrupted her. "I know Derek was one of the agents that were undercover, and another had been murdered by the mob. Amanda was the only other agent undercover. You're saying that you were undercover as well."

Brennan bit her lip and said softly, "You still haven't figured it out yet, have you?"

He stared intently at her for a minute and finally said, "You're Amanda?"

"No, I'm Derek," she replied sarcastically. "Now, if you want the full story, don't interrupt me!"

He opened his mouth to reply, but decided to be smart and stay silent.

"Now, everything that I told you when I was Amanda is true, all except the parts that involved me as Temperance."

"Now, you're confusing even me, Dr. Brennan," Cullen laughed.

She explained it to him, "Five months ago, Booth asked how I was discovered. You understand, Sir." He nodded and she continued. "However, it didn't take long before the mob found out that we were working on the case. They focused on targeting me first. Before my 'death', they had tried to kill me three times: shooting, running me over. One of them even attempted to kidnap me." When Booth gave her a shocked stare, she almost chuckled, "Let's just say, he wasn't going to be using his hands anytime soon. Anyway, Cullen and I knew it was only going to get worse, so that is when I became Amanda. We wanted to see if they would leave me alone after they saw the news report, but as you saw when you stayed the night, they were still searching for me. Then, after that meeting we all had with Cullen, I went traveling across the country, putting the mob members that wanted to kill you and the rest of my friends away. However, thanks to the incident earlier, I'm almost positive all 5 months of that work has gone for nothing."

"How?" both guys asked simultaneously.

Brennan looked expectantly at Booth, "You didn't stop them did you?"

He shook his head.

"Those guys probably ran out of there and told their boss that I really was alive, and that you now know about it too. In other words, they have renewed the search for us, with a lot more numbers than before, and this incident probably alerted them to what I have been doing."

"Oh, shit."

"Exactly my point."

Suddenly, the door opened and Derek rushed in. "Temperance! Are you okay?"

"I'll be okay," she smiled.

"I have bad news. The boss moved over to somewhere in Asia. I think he knows we're trying to find him."

"You're kidding, right?" Brennan gasped.

"I only wish I was."

She sighed and turned back toward Booth. "While I was trying to keep you all safe, Derek has been searching for the boss. You take the boss out, the entire thing falls apart."

"Then why do this whole charade and just go right after the boss?"

"Because, finding this guy is harder than you would think. Derek has been searching for 6 months and we only got the state in which he was in, and now he's in an entirely different continent! During the time it took to find him, the mob would have killed you, Angela, Hodgins, Zach, and Cam! I don't want to lose any of you. I can't lose any of you." She grabbed a hold of the sheets as she cried in pain from yelling the last remark.

"Temperance," Derek sighed. "I'm going to need your help if I'm to go overseas to find him."

She turned to Cullen and he patted her arm. "I can see what I can do to keep them safe. Derek will need your help."

Brennan bit her lip and whispered, "I guess this is going to be goodbye."

"Whoa! Wait a minute," Booth stood up. "Goodbye? I just found out you were alive and you're already leaving?"

Derek, Cullen and Brennan all nodded and Brennan replied, "The closest I could ever be now until this is over is to be in another country, and if I have to do that, I might as well be helping Derek. We have no idea how long it will take to find the boss, it's completely possible that we will never see each other ever again."


	8. Chapter 8

Booth sat at the table on the platform with the rest of the squints, telling them all that was going to happen in the next twenty four hours and what had been going on. So not only were they filled in about the mob, but they were let in on the fact Brennan was really was alive. The only thing he kept from them was what his plans were until this was over. However, Angela, being the mind reader she was, knew that he wasn't telling them that information and got it out of him.

"So, you told us what we are going to be doing, but what exactly are you doing?" she asked.

He shook his head, "I have to go after her. I know after what she put us through I shouldn't still want to like her, but I do."

"I don't understand why you would think you shouldn't like her," Zach stated. "She has been keeping us alive. You should be thanking her."

"Wow, Zach," Hodgins pat his back. "Most emotional statement I think I've ever heard from you!"

Angela sighed, "I think Zach's right, but I also agree with Booth. I feel like I should hate her but I don't." She lowered her head, and asked softly, "So where exactly is Bren going?"

"Somewhere in Asia. I don't exactly know where, but that's the good thing about being an FBI agent." He whipped out his phone and called the airport. After a few minutes of talking, he finally hung up, a frown on his face. "There was no Temperance Brennan on the plane this morning, and none on the next few planes, and there's at least 47 different Amanda's." He cursed, "Why didn't I get her last name?"

"Hey, you're good at finding people!" Angela smiled, patting his shoulder. "You'll find her."

"Thanks, Angela," he pulled her into a hug. "You've been a great friend through this."

"Good luck. You're going to need it."

* * *

Temperance Brennan was Amanda Chase once again, but this time, she had long raven black hair. She took a seat next to Derek on the plane and sat back, waiting for it to take off. She took one last look over Derek out the window at the world she was about to miss for a very long time. They were on their way to Hong Kong, where one of the leaders was. That's where they would start, and then go from there. She sighed when the plane finally began to move. There was the voice of the flight attendant informing the passengers on how to buckle their seat belts and how to use things in case of an emergency. After a minute of traveling onto the runway, she leaned back in her seat, preparing for the nausea she felt every time the plane took off. She normally didn't feel the urge to puke, especially when it came to the bodies she examined, but there was something about the feeling of her stomach just dropping lower as the plane went higher. To Derek's relief, she managed to fight down the urge.

Several hours, Diet cokes, and bags of peanuts later, they found themselves in the city of Hong Kong. Both had been worn out by the flight, and with the time difference, it was perfect. While it was morning in D.C. it was sunset in Hong Kong. They had rooms at the Four Seasons Hotel so they decided to go ahead and get some rest first before starting looking for the leader that lived there. They needed to be top of their game if they expected to get through this alive.

**See, I'm not going to leave Booth behind in all of this. I have to have some good in this story! :)  
Oh, and Ponys, that would be an awesome idea to throw in maybe like as a happy ending chapter, if only I was any good at fluff... I'm ashamed to admit that even as much as I love reading fluff and as much as I would love to be able to write fluff, I'm just no good... **


	9. Chapter 9

**Sorry for taking so long to update. Not much I can do while my brothers hog my computer all day long. :) They start school tomorrow so maybe I can get more time on the computer again!**

Booth's first stop was the to the FBI building. He needed to figure out where in Asia Brennan would have gone, and he knew Cullen was not about to give him that information. He would be with her right that very second if he was entitled to the information. Only one other way remained. To search Derek's office for anything useful.

Thankfully, that day seemed to be his lucky day. In a small file was a few pages full of names and right up at the very top was Darci Banks: Hong Kong, China. Next stop, the airport, to go to Hong Kong and hopefully find his Bones.

* * *

Amanda and Derek had started searching for their current target, Darci Banks. She was pretty well known as a blabber mouth, but however, if it came to be a secret, you could count on her to keep it unless the information was needed by her superiors. If anyone would tell them exactly where the boss was, it was her. Locating her was fairly easy, seeing as she was the only Darci Banks in Hong Kong. The problem was actually finding her hotel. A few hours of searching later, they finally found themselves at her front door.

"Can I help you?" Darci opened the door seconds after Amanda knocked.

"Amanda Chase, and this is my friend Derek Webber. We're associates of yours."

She looked shocked for a second, but quickly smiled and opened the door wider, "Come in and make yourselves at home. Would you like anything to drink?"

"No thank you," both replied and sat down on her couch.

Darci came back with a beer and sat in the chair across from them. "So what brings you two to China?"

Derek answered this one, "We've been on the run from the FBI for the past six months around the U.S. so we finally booked plane tickets to Asia. There's little to no chance they will look for us here. Besides, we have information for the boss and we were hoping he was here."

"Two questions," she took a long drink from her beer and placed it on the table, "Why is the FBI looking for you and why are you looking for the boss?"

"Because we know where the FBI is hiding Temperance Brennan."

Darci immediately straightened up after hearing this, "Where?"

Amanda frowned, "I wish I could tell you, but the boss wanted to hear it first before anyone else."

She sighed, "Last I heard, he was in Iraq, but you probably know the FBI is looking for him as well so he's been moving around quite a lot."

Amanda and Derek stood up, the information they needed they had. "Thank you so much for you're help."

Darci, too, stood up and walked them over to the door. "So I'll see you around?"

Derek shook his head, "I don't think so."

Amanda threw a punch toward the unsuspecting woman while Derek got the syringe that had been in his pocket ready. Darci started to fall backwards and grabbed a hold of Amanda's necklace, but the force of her falling had broken the chain holding the pieces together. Once ready, Derek gave Darci the sedative that was inside. Within seconds, she was unconscious on the floor.

"Let's get her sent to D.C. immediately," Amanda said, picking up the pieces of her necklace.

Derek nodded as he hurried off into the hallway where the bag that they had planned on shipping her off in was.


	10. Chapter 10

Booth stood on Darci Banks's doorstep at eight in the morning. He knocked but there was no answer, so he tried the door knob. Surprisingly, it was unlocked, so he went in. He saw slight signs of a struggle, but no blood. Something caught his eye as he moved on into the next room. A small silver ball was next to the door. He recognized it as part of a necklace he had given to Temperance. Sure enough, when he rolled the ball in his palm he saw the name 'Temperance' in gold. She was here. He was closer to finding her, and now he knew her alias's last name. Chase. He was most definitely going to find her now.

A quick call to the airport in Hong Kong informed him that she had flown to Iraq the previous night. Even though it was getting easier to find her, this next part was not going to be a walk in the park.

* * *

The first thing Amanda did once getting off of the plane was to call Cullen. It was during that phone call that she learned that Booth was trying to find her. Her head quickly found her hands as she tried to get rid of the headache that was quickly forming. She wanted to see Booth again, but maybe he didn't know how fast someone would kill him if they saw him. When this was over, she preferred to see an alive Booth instead of a dead Booth.

"You okay?" Derek asked.

"Fine. Did you talk to the contact?"

"Yes. There's a restaurant not too far from here that he wants to meet us tomorrow evening."

* * *

Booth landed in Iraq that very evening. He hoped he could find her here, as it could be only a matter of time before she went to a country that was too large for him to find her in. However, his first stop was food. Plane food really wasn't all that good and he was starving. He got himself a rental car and drove towards the closest restaurant. It was then that he saw the familiar form of his partner and Derek. They were being directed towards a parking space. He parked on the other side of the lot and kept an eye on her. His hunger didn't matter to him right now. Now that she was just in his sight, he wasn't going to let her leave it.

* * *

"There's a parking space down near the end that should be a quiet place where we won't be interrupted."

They nodded and parked where they were directed. The man came back towards them, "I'm going to get some food, would you two like anything?"

"No thanks, we ate before coming here," Amanda replied.

"Alright," he smiled. "Just sit tight and I'll be back in about five minutes."

He ran inside leaving them alone.

"I don't trust him," Amanda said, pretty randomly.

"Why not?"

"It doesn't look that busy inside, and even though it is quieter over here, we are surrounded by cars. What if one of them is rigged to blow up? He did leave us out here alone, probably so he could get away from the blast."

Derek looked shocked for a second, "Makes sense."

Amanda opened her door, "Sneak out my door, maybe no one will see us and we can make sure he isn't going to blow us up."

The two hurried out her door and were halfway to a safe distance when a car beside their's did blow up. Both fell to the ground by the force of the blast. Pieces of metal and glass went flying, and one of them went right through Brennan's leg. When the ringing in her ears stopped, she tried to force her body to get up. Someone turned her over and hugged her. She opened her eyes to see Booth there. But there was something else that she saw, when she wiped away her freefalling tears.

"Booth!" she warned.

"It's alright," he said. "I'm here."

There was a figure on the roof, and he raised his gun and took aim at them.


	11. Chapter 11

_There was a figure on the roof, and he raised his gun and took aim at them._

She realized that she would have to get rid of the guy on the roof herself. She grabbed his gun and shot the figure, three times consecutively. Booth looked at what she had fired at and covered his ears at the same time, just in time to see the figure fall off the roof and onto the sidewalk, dead.

"Who the hell was that that you just shot? And are you trying to make me deaf?" Booth asked.

She shook her head, "I have no idea who he was, but I do know he wanted to kill us, and I'm sorry about trying to make you deaf." She rolled out of his arms and crawled toward Derek. "Derek? Are you okay?"

He groaned and slowly lifted himself up. "I think so."

She turned back to Booth, and told him, "Help me up."

Willingly, he grabbed her hand and pulled her up. With his and Derek's help, she managed to limp over to the body. Even before she turned him over, she knew exactly who it was.

"It's our contact. He told us he knew where the boss was." She shook her head sadly, "He's the best lead we had."

"Hey!" Derek bent down and grabbed something. She leaned over and saw what he had. The contact's phone and a set of keys.

"Call logs," Derek and Brennan said simultaneously.

A few seconds later, they found the call log and looked through the numbers. "Hey, isn't that number from Hong Kong?" Derek asked.

Brennan grabbed the phone for a better look. "Yeah. It is. Whoever it is talked to him all this morning, so it can't be Darci."

"Do you think it is--"

"It's a definite possibility," she grinned.

"Okay!" Booth's leaned on the building and asked, "What are you talking about?"

"The Boss," they both replied. Then Brennan continued, "This contact was one of the highest ranking leaders of the mob. Higher probability than not that he is friends with the boss."

"We need to get back to Hong Kong immediately," Derek stated. "If that is true and he calls this guy, then he's going to move again, and I'd prefer to get back to the states as soon as possible."

"I agree. Booth, you coming with us?" Brennan asked.

"Thought you never would have asked," he grinned, "but I'm driving!"

Brennan laughed and opened her mouth to argue, but closed it. She had missed being able to sit in the passenger seat next to him. For once, she wasn't going to stop him.

* * *

Several hours later, they stood outside a building they now knew the boss was in. Each of them felt like they were ready, but in reality, there was no way they could have been prepared for what they walked into. The keys they had taken from the contact were tried in the front door, and thankfully they worked. Inside was a mess. Boxes upon boxes were stacked up hazardously up towards the celling. Most of them were filled with files, mostly on the previous targets that the mob had gone after. It was worse than some of the people Booth had killed as a sniper. After that room, they slowly moved through the next room couple rooms in which each room had several pictures of some known victims. Upon reaching the final room in that direction, they found the room filled with pictures of Brennan. Her and Booth at the diner, her at the lab, her in her apartment. It was never ending, and it freaked her out. Without another word, she spun around, and ran back the way they had come.

Brennan's blood was boiling. Would she kill the man who had ruined all sense of privacy she had? Would she kill the man who had forced her to hide from her best friends for several months? Would she kill the man that had forced her to lie to her very best friend and partner? She would. She knew that. She was prepared for that. Her gun was out in front of her, ready to shoot every single inch of that man's body until he was dead.

She burst into the last room and had the gun aimed right at him the second she located him. Then, she froze. There, in a chair facing her, was a man she had saw once in an old picture of her mom and dad. He was the leader of the bank robbers her mom and dad worked for, and eventually sent McVicar to kill her parents. Her anger was quickly returning.

"Hello Joy, or should I call you Temperance?" he smirked. "I wondered how long it would take for you to find me."

Her finger quivered on the trigger. She wanted to kill him. She really did, but why wouldn't her body obey her?

"It wasn't hard keeping tabs on you all these years. I followed you and your family, remembered your new names, talked to your friends. I waited for the perfect time. Max was so happy to be out of jail for his crimes. Just to think I could have ruined that happiness all in a second."

Her grip on her gun tightened, but still her finger would not squeeze the trigger.

"With the others, it was fun murdering those in front of their loved ones. To watch them try so desperately to safe them, only for them to die anyways. With you, I thought it wouldn't be just as great. I wanted to see your friends and family when they received the news that you were dead and they could have done nothing to save you. Now, I have a second chance. I want to see how they react when they are with you and you are dying."

Brennan walked over towards the chair and pressed the barrel of the gun to the side of his head.

"You couldn't kill me, Temperance. You as much as you say you want to shoot people like me, you won't, because then that makes you one of us. The very same people you help to put away."

He was right, she realized. Epps's words came back to her from when she had killed Lappin. "There's also a rush. Pleasure. Part of you liked it." He was wrong, she told herself. She hated killing Lappin, but shooting him saved her partner. What Brennan had been telling herself to do ever since she walked out of that door, was murder. Like Epps had wanted her to kill Lappin, this man wanted her to kill him, knowing the torture it was putting her through. Her mind was set.

The gun fell from her hand, and he almost smiled, but not before her fist met his mouth, forcing him to fall backward. With a loud thud, his head hit the wall, knocking him out. She collapsed onto the floor, her emotions of the past several months flowing from her. Booth and Derek came in to see her, on the floor, and Derek realizing what was happening and grabbed the knocked out man and took him out to the car, leaving Booth and Brennan alone together. He knelt down beside her, and she sought the comfort from his arms around her. It was over. It was all over.

**Alright, while this story is not over just yet, I do promise that the angst is over. Next chapter will be posted soon!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Alright, here's my first try at fluff here. Please let me know what you think! I really don't know when I'll be able to get the next chapter done. I've been coming up with a lot of different songfics, one of them being Because of you, but hopefully it won't take too long to finish most of those so I can focus back on my stories.**

It had been seven months since Temperance Brennan disappeared with her faked death. Everyone knew that it wasn't just the fact that she was his partner that he had traveled to the ends of the Earth to look for her. Maybe it wasn't just the bonds of friendship that he had sworn it was that made him do it. Could it be that their friends were right all along?

The cherry blossoms in China were in full bloom, some twirling around as the wind blew them off the trees. To Booth, that just made her more beautiful. Temperance Brennan stood many feet ahead of him, wearing a soft smile. It was no surprise to her that he was here. Of course, she had been here since the trees first started to bloom.

Booth's heart tugged. His mind replaying everything that had happened in the past few years. Her faked death, the shooting in Wal-Mart, finding out she was alive, her leaving for here, the car bombing, them finding the boss. It had been terrible dealing with everything. Who would have been able to easily accept all of this?

Slowly, she started to walk towards him, and as if being irresistibly drawn to her, went to her. No words were said, even when they were only an inch apart. Silently, they embraced. Her glossy blue eyes looked into his, begging for forgiveness. He gave her a soft smile, and wordlessly gave her what she wanted as his lips slowly came down towards hers. What was only meant as a small kiss was immediately turned into a long and passionate one.

A blossom floated over Booth's head and landed softly into Brennan's hair. Both broke apart the kiss and looked up into the sky, which almost looked like it was raining cherry blossoms. Another blossom came between them, however, this time landing on her nose. Both burst into laughter at how she looked.

Once their laughter had subsided, Booth gazed at Brennan's face. Her eyes shined brightly, cheeks were flushed, and lips still turned upward in happiness. Now that this terrible case was over, maybe things could go back to normal. Then he shook his head. It was going to be better than normal once they got back. The squints would most likely forgive her, her job most certainly hasn't gone anywhere, and maybe he would get to kiss her more when he wanted to. At that thought, he quickly pulled her in for another kiss and thanked God when she didn't fight him, and instead kissed him back.

"You ready to go home?" Brennan whispered quietly, once they broke apart once again. She had almost forgotten when she last called a place a true home, but now, she knew exactly where it was. Washington D.C. It would never be anywhere else. Booth couldn't help but agree.


	13. Chapter 13

**It's so sad. My first story ever is now complete. Inputs on this chapter would be greatly appreciated! I don't think I put in enough angst and shock... Nah, I think I put you readers through enough of an angst ride through this story. What can I say? I'm a hopeless angst addict. Thank you guys for sticking with me!**

Brennan stood frozen just outside Booth's SUV that was parked outside the Jeffersonian. It had been seven long months since she walked inside the Jeffersonian. Her only worry was how her friends were going to react. For most of the time she was chasing these guys, they thought she was dead. It had hit them pretty hard when Booth had died, but most of them had stayed at the Jeffersonian because of her. It was only Booth's encouragement that made her step forward into the lab.

It was quiet.

For about two seconds.

"OH! MY! GOD!" a shrill voice sounded throughout the lab.

Not even a second later, Brennan found herself being squeezed to death by Angela. Cam, Zack, and Hodgins had all hurried over to see what was going on, and where in shock by the sight in front of them. Angela pulled back, and after about three seconds her face went from pure happiness to anger.

"Okay, Temperance Brennan. We considered you dead for almost a half a year! I understand why you did it, but why didn't you give us a message of some sort?"

Brennan couldn't even get a word in before Angela moved over to Booth. "And you! After your staged death I thought you would have learned to start talking to us when you disappear. We didn't get one message from you either. Cullen came over asking if we knew where you went. We couldn't even give him an update on how you were doing. He was afraid you had died!"

Hodgins gently placed his hands on Angela's shoulders, trying to calm her. Slowly, she began to relax and took deep breaths.

"Okay, I got that out and now, I need to hug you guys again, just to make sure you're here," Angela sighed, tears beginning to fill her eyes.

Booth and Brennan willingly hugged the artist, and the rest of the squint squad hugged them as well.

"If you guys do that again," Cam started, "we'll have to go and find you and kick your asses."

"Don't worry," Booth laughed. "We won't."

"I definitely missed everyone too much to think about doing that again," Brennan laughed through the tears that started streaming down her face, in sync with Angela's.

Hodgins and Booth comforted their girls and Booth's stomach started to growl, "Hey, why don't we all go celebrate everyone being safe for the moment at the diner?!"

"Why not Thai?" Brennan asked. "We can stay here."

"Because I want pie!" he glared at her. "And this time I'm going to make you have a piece, and you're going to love it."

"But I don't like pie. What makes you think I'll love it this time round?"

With a roll of their eyes, the squint squad set out towards the truck and drove to the diner.


End file.
